Field of the Invention
The present matter relates to a sterilizable platform with supporting frame and method of construction, specifically pertaining to counters and supporting counter frames used in the preparation of food products or medical related products subject to strict standards for sterility.
Background
Federal regulation over the manufacture of products within certain industries, such as food or medical related products, are subject to strict sterile guidelines. Particularly within the food industry, instruments and platforms in direct contact with food material must undergo regular sterilization between periods of use to ensure a healthy result for end consumption. In some cases as with medical equipment, the final product itself must achieve sterility, further raising the bar for the need to effectively and efficiently maintain a sterile manufacturing environment.
The challenge in meeting these standards is with the balance of cost. A majority of manufacturers producing food or medical products typically contract through secondary manufacturers for their equipment needs. A cheese manufacturer may require a length of stainless steel table for assembly line processing. Federal regulations currently require the processing area, including any material contact with the food product during processing, to be regularly washed and sterilized. Therefore, an entire length of table platform would have to undergo washing or sterilization, a time consuming endeavor if involving spare parts. Any area where a seam is open or where crevices exist such that bacteria may collect would have to be removed for separate thorough cleaning. In some cases, entire sections of area would have to shut down daily, costing a great deal in labor and expense. The period of usability after sterile cleaning will vary depending on the style of design of the equipment and the product in contact with it. In the food industry, particularly with cheese manufacturing, the period of usability before the next cycle of maintenance of a standard processing table can be a 12 hour period. Given the low demand and high variability in design requirements (for the specific needs of each particular industry and company), suppliers and manufacturers of these equipment respond to custom demands. As such, no generic or standard sterilizable table or support equipment exists at this time. From both economical and practical points of view, the custom needs of each company and industry makes it very difficult to establish a standard product appealable to the large inconsistent market.
The common scenario at this time involves purchase of standard nonsterilizable tables which are then customized to fit sterile needs. Standard nonsterilizable tables are more accessible in the market. The components of such tables typically have legs that are hollow tubes screwed onto the bottom surface of a table top. The bottom end of the tubing is capped to soften its impact on the ground surface and to close out the hollow space of the legs. The interconnection is often achieved by nonwelding methods such as by screw, tension or adhesive means. For purposes of customizing the product for sterilizable use, they are often brought into a secondary manufacturer to weld the seam edges. However, the prefabricated tables being manufactured with different specifications not intended originally for welding purposes often crack and break at their secondary welds or due to physical imbalance caused by the welding. The weld that reinforces or adds to strength at certain areas of the table may highlight other portions that are naturally weaker, particularly under heavy use. Unless a piece of equipment is engineered to meet certain types of conditions, jerry-rigging an imperfect product to meet unexpected demands does not provide effective solution. Such damages result in expensive liability and noncurable defects to the entire device or large portions of the device within proximity to the defective portions. This is a continuous problem in the industry.